Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pendleton, Oregon 97801
Monday, August 19, 1996 10:25 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot and helicopter were under contract for firefighting. The helicopter was equipped with a Bambi waterbucket on a cargo hook. The pilot's mission was to fill the water bucket from a pond, then drop the water on a designated part of a nearby fireline. He was en route to the fire drop location, when he experienced a loss of hydraulic control. He noted that the master caution and one caution segment light illuminated. The pilot made a turn to initiate an autorotation to a clear-cut area, but due to low rotor rpm, the helicopter landed hard with substantial downward velocity and some forward speed. The landing skids collapsed and the helicopter rolled to the right. The main rotor blades contacted the ground and the engine remained running at idle power until the fuel lines were exhausted of fuel. After the accident, the flight controls, hydraulic system, electrical system, fuel system, tailrotor system, and transmission were checked. Also, the hydraulic servo actuators, the hydraulic pump, fuel control, and power turbine governor were checked and bench tested. During this postcrash examination, no preimpact mechanical failure or malfunction was found.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
undetermined malfunction/failure of a flight control or hydraulic system. Rough terrain in the emergency landing area was a related factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/19/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1025 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | PENDLETON |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97801 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1563 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 19 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1124 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:18AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4734F |
| NTSB Number | SEA96TA192 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | UH-1H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | UH-1H |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 65-09569 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9500 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 3 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 31 |
| Airframe Hours | 7794 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WALTERS HELICOPTERS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1739 N. MARSHALL AVE. |
| Aircraft Owner City | EL CAJON |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92020 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | USFS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 3905 VISTA AVE. |
| Operator City | BOISE |
| Operator State | ID |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 83705 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1020 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 22 2001 3:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |